Where Are They Now? - 2KCBWDAY4

Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

My Mum has been the recipient of several scarves. I hate making scarves, but I would knit just about anything for Mum. She currently has three. One crocheted, two knit. And I'm sure, come her birthday, there will be another to add to the collection.

Dad has not asked for any knits. But when I was knitting Dr. Who socks for myself, he was happy to take them off my hands, or feet, rather. They are his happy socks, worn on special days. Or days that he wants to be The Doctor.

Baby Hat Release

The day has finally come! All the current animal hats now have baby sizing! If you have already purchased a copy, you have nothing to fear. You can simply re-download the pattern.

You can either go on ravelry to get a copy, or you can click the buy now button by each pattern in this post.

To get the sheep hat pattern for $5: buy now

The pattern itself doesn't change. The small sizing is created by using thinner yarn and smaller needles.

To get the giraffe hat pattern for $5: buy now

There will be a Bear Ears website up in the near future.

To get the fox hat pattern for $5: buy now

But until then, the blog will have to do.

To get the bear hat pattern for $5: buy now

Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches - 2KCBWDAY3

How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

I have heard stories of people having entire rooms, or even having to rent storage lockers for their stash. I'm quite proud to say that my stash fits into my bedroom just fine. I have a bookcase dedicated to yarn. The striped bin has unused skeins, the grey bin has used skeins, and the bottom suitcase holds all the yarn I bought when I last went to New Zealand.

Right next to my bed is an active project basket. It holds skeins that will be used in the near future.

Right above the basket is my workspace. It is a bit messy, but it holds projects that are actively being knit.

Next to the desk is the bookcase of colored fiber and all of my handspun. Not shown is all the natural colored fiber in my closet. And under my bed is a suitcase dedicated to finished projects. Everything is organized and easy to find.

On a separate subject, you can now Follow my blog with bloglovin.

Skill + 1UP - 2KCBWDAY2

Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

I hadn't realized it, but this time last year, I was knitting my first lace project. (And by first, I mean that 16 row try at lace two years previous doesn't count) I was terrified of lace after the 16 row experiment. I don't really know what possessed me to try again. I guess I just really wanted a Shipwreck Shawl.

I'd like to mention that when I started this shawl, I didn't even know how to do a proper yarn over. I kept doing a yo, k1. The evening ended with me on one side of the room and the yarn on the other. I still can't believe that I chose to do the Shipwreck Shawl as a first lace project, because it wasn't easy. And there are mistakes in it. But they are my mistakes and I learned a great deal from them. (I gave the shawl the name "Law And Order" because I watched about 60 hours of it while knitting)

I Also finally learned how to read cable charts. I don't know why I didn't try earlier. Charts are so much more useful than written instructions when it comes to cables (and lace for that matter) It was quite the productive year!

A Tale OF Two Yarns - 2KCBWDAY1

Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

It was easy to choose two yarns to talk about. I have been working with them for several days. The first is Mini Mochi (which is on the right) The color way is Lake Trail. Normally I am not a huge fan of single ply yarn, but the mini mochi has been pleasant to work with. It is a merino nylon blend. And despite being fingering weight, I find it to be pretty strong. The way the colors fade together is quite lovely as well. The other yarn is Malabrigo Sock, shown in the color way Chocolate Amargo. It is a plied merino, and quite lovely to work with as well. I'm not sure I would use either for socks as I'm not sure how they would wear.

I'm knitting a hat with them. Or at least I was until I realized the hat was three inches too big. I did a swatch.... and my swatch lied. I took a picture before I started again. It is a bit of a bummer because the hat is a design for the 11 hats in 2011 group and I was hoping to have a pattern done soon. Good thing I like the yarn. I don't mind having to knit another hat with it.

Snow Play

My Mum and I went for a quick trip up to Oregon for my grandmother's birthday. On the way back, we drove through snow. I got to play Mr. Tumnus briefly.

I asked my Mum to throw a snowball at me. She had no problem obliging me. She's a pretty good aim. If I hadn't stepped back, it would have hit the camera. Instead she got my stomach. Thanks Mum.

Baby Hat Sneak Peek

Yesterday I did a photo shoot for the baby versions of my animal hats. I was able to take pictures of five hats in fifteen minutes. And I may have been converted to the dark side. The baby hats are really cute and so was the baby. The current patterns do not reflect the baby sizing. I plan on re-releaseing the patterns in another week or so. But until then, here is a sneak peek of the fox hat in baby size.

Big, Overwhelming Plans

In the midst of adding baby sizes/ metric measurements to all my hat patterns, I have also been designing new hats and developing my branding.

I am overwhelmed.

I knew I'd be overwhelmed, but I didn't realize how much. It's cool though. Once I've sorted out all the important foundation work (like a Bear Ears website!) I'll feel much better.

Until then, here is a sneak peek of the Lion Hat. It has been sent out to be test knit. And I still need to take the official pictures, but it's getting there.

Babyizing In Progress

I finally finished re-knitting the baby samples of the bear hat. The pattern doesn't reflect the changes just yet, but it will soon. I just need to have several people check for errors before I release the updated version. And pictures. I've got to find some babies.

Here is a quick sneak peek of the next hat to be released. The adult version of the hat has been knit. I just need to "babyize" it. 10 points to anyone who guesses what the hat is. (Unless I've actually told you and you "guess". Then you get -10 points.)

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that re-knitting and adding baby sizes to the patterns was a bit stressful. To keep my sanity, I've been knitting this sweater in the evening. The pattern may look complex, but it is actually pretty relaxing to knit and easy to adjust sizing once you've gotten your gauge sorted out. The pattern is the Fireside Sweater by Amber Allison. I just have the back and two sleeves to go. I'm fairly certain I'll finish in the middle of summer during a heat wave.

I Am The Stig

There is a "My First Car"contest going on over at BBC America. The grand prize is a trip for two to London and tickets to see a Top Gear live event. I'm feeling pretty confident about winning because...